Lesson 1

Remember What You Know!

2 Peter 1:12-15; 3:1

As long as there are tests and exams, there is going to be prayer in school. I know because I have prayed, pled with God for supernatural knowledge, begged for mercy instead of justice, but mostly have prayed to remember what I know. I've always had this fear that I will know an answer to a test question but not be able to remember what I know.

I've come to the conclusion that much of what takes place in church and from the pulpit is also designed to help people do two things - to know and then to remember what they already know. Most of us are either ignorant of God's Word or we are forgetful and need to be reminded of what we really already know.

That is the theme of Peter's second epistle - the book in the Bible which we refer to as II Peter. Let's open our Bibles today to this wonderful little letter. Peter states the purpose of this letter in verses 12-15, so let's begin there, see also II Peter 3:1. Peter intends to constantly ("always") remind his reader of those things which they actually already know to be true. This is "meet", that is, it is necessary; it is the right thing to do. In fact, not doing it would be "negligent" (v. 12) on Peter's part. His goal in this ministry of remembrance is to "stir them up" - the word means to awaken or arouse. It is something which Christians constantly need. We need to be stirred up. We need to be awakened and aroused from slumber and lethargy and apathy.

Peter wasn't the only one to sought to stir the people of God up. Paul did, too. To Timothy, Paul wrote, " Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee..." (II Timothy 1:6). Paul used a different word. His word for stirring up means to rekindle a fire. When the coals of a fire have cooled, you use the poker to stir the fire and make those coals blaze hot again. To me, that is the definition of revival. The truth is that our zeal for God cools and we fight indifference and apathy and coldness and just being backslidden, and we need someone like a Peter or Paul or maybe Pastor Darrell l to come along and stir us up and make the coals to burn hot, the passion and the zeal to blaze again in our lives.

And so Peter writes that he intends to spend the rest of his time on earth reminding Christians of what they already know so as to awaken them. What he is saying is, "Remember what you know."

I have to tell you that this idea is particularly pertinent to me and to Dearborn Baptist Church right now. We are in the middle of our thirteenth year of existence and I have been the pastor the whole time. When you have been a believer of many years and have been in church most of your life you discover that you don't often hear a lot of new stuff. Start searching the scriptures for something new and everything you read in God's Word sounds like the same message only in different words.

When I realize that, like Peter, my ministry, in large part, is the ministry of remembrance, of constantly reminding God's people of what they already know, in order to stir them up for the things of God, such a realization revitalizes me. The Lord has not called me to novelty. God's calling in my life is simply to teach God's Word. And His Word is not new; it's old. But it's also always fresh.

And so, I arrive with you today in II Peter and tell you, particularly those of you who have many years of being a Christian, to remember what you know. Are there some things that you have forgotten? Perhaps. Our forgetfulness leads our commitments to cool, our priorities to change and suddenly, something as simple as faithful church attendance is no longer a priority in our lives. And so Sunday night church can take a backseat and Sunday night can become Family night (which is pretty lame, if you ask me seeing that there are several other nights of the week that we could spend with the family. And then Wednesday night isn't so important anymore, after all "I'm tired." And then Sunday School, well, it's just not necessary, we tell ourselves, and our commitment to the things of God is fading fast. It is my observation that getting backslidden doesn't just happen overnight. It happens in tiny incremental steps and it happens because we are prone to forget what we know. I want to be used of God to encourage you and, indeed, to stir you up, to awaken and arouse you and to rekindle your fire with the that first love by reminding you to remember what you know.

The Bible urges us to remember. When Israel was poised and ready to enter the land of promise after 40 years of wilderness wandering, God repeated His law to them, a second time. This repetition of God's law is what we call The Book of Deuteronomy. It is an entire book of reminding God's people of what they had already learned. ("Remember" - 14 times; "forget not" - 9 times).

Deuteronomy 4:23 23 Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD your God, 5:15 And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: 7:18 Thou shalt not be afraid ... but shalt remember what the LORD thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt; 8:2 And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. 8:18 But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day. 16:3 Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction: for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life. 16:12 And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt: and thou shalt observe and do these statutes.

David repeatedly expressed his commitment to never forget God's word. Psalm 103:2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Psalm 119:16 I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word. 83 For I am become like a bottle in the smoke; yet do I not forget thy statutes. 93 I will never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened me. 109 My soul is continually in my hand: yet do I not forget thy law. 141 I ... do not .. forget thy precepts. 153 I do not forget thy law. 176 I do not forget thy commandments.

When Jesus sent His letters to the 7 Churches of Asia, He urged them to remember. To the church at Ephesus, a church that had left her first love, whose zeal and passion had cooled Christ said (Revelation 2:5) Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

And to Sardis, He wrote (Revelation 3:3) Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent.

Of course, you cannot remember what you do not know. And so, Peter's emphasis in this second letter is on the knowledge of God. In fact, he uses the word "know" or "knowing" or "knowledge" or "known" at least 15 times in this very short epistle. In chapter 1, Peter wants you to know your salvation and your scriptures. In chapter 2, he wants you to know your adversaries. In chapter 3, he wants you to know your prophecy. In fact, this letter ends by Peter saying, "Grow ... in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" (II Peter 3:18). Knowing and growing is the theme of this book.

And so, my job is first to help you to know and then to help you remember what you know. And your responsibility is to learn what you don't know and then to remember what you have learned and do know. And if we will all do what we are suppose to do, the result will be a great stirring up, a great awakening and a rekindling of our zeal and passion for the things of God.

Grow in knowledge of Jesus Christ and remember what you know.